|
|
Post by greatstreetwarrior on Jul 16, 2017 8:01:00 GMT
The good, bad and the ugly movies of Mitchum's career. Lets dissect them.
Which are the essential must watch films in his ouevre. I like covering actors in a movie marathon. I have just started watching his films from Undercurrent, Locket, Pursued, Crossfire and now finally finished Out of the Past. I loved all of them. Find him way ahead of his time. Need to see GI Joe Story which was the only movie sadly where he was nominated for the Oscars.
Could not find Blood on the Moon and Rachel and the Stranger (plz help if smone knows where to find some free online streaming of theirs.) Next I am going to watch The Big Steal. I want to finish all the good movies in his filmography. So plz suggest.
|
|
|
|
Post by OldAussie on Jul 16, 2017 9:28:08 GMT
A quick look through his filmography tells me I've seen about 35/133 credits.
I've seen many of his westerns but not Blood on the Moon and Rachel and the Stranger unfortunately.
So from this limited perspective I'll name my favourites as -
Out of the Past
Angel Face
The Night of the Hunter
Man with the Gun
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
The Enemy Below
Home from the Hill
Cape Fear
The Longest Day
El Dorado
Villa Rides
5 Card Stud
Ryan's Daughter
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The Yakuza
Farewell, My Lovely
|
|
|
|
Post by greatstreetwarrior on Jul 16, 2017 9:56:29 GMT
A quick look through his filmography tells me I've seen about 35/133 credits. I've seen many of his westerns but not Blood on the Moon and Rachel and the Stranger unfortunately. So from this limited perspective I'll name my favourites as - Out of the Past Angel Face The Night of the Hunter Man with the Gun Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison The Enemy Below Home from the Hill Cape Fear The Longest Day El Dorado Villa Rides 5 Card Stud Ryan's Daughter The Friends of Eddie Coyle The Yakuza Farewell, My Lovely Of these I havent heard much about 5 Card Stud, Villa Rides, Longest Day, Enemy Below, Angel Face and Man with the Gun. I am digging him more into his noirs. You seem to be more into his westerns. How do they compare? Tell me more qualitatively about what you think of his acting, his career etc. Why did he not get more Oscar noms/wins? Why was he so underrated compared to his more illustrious contemporaries. Him, Holden, Peck and Lancaster were the connecting generation that linked the classical school of actors such as Stewart, Fonda, Tracy, Cooper and the method actors such as Dean, Clift, Newman and Brando. I feel due to this these 4 actors get sandwiched between the more influential generations of acting and get lost in the shuffle. |
|
|
|
Post by Richard Kimble on Jul 16, 2017 10:05:45 GMT
Considering how iconic Mitchum is, he has surprisingly few great roles. For me, these are the Mitchum must-sees:
Out Of The Past
Night Of The Hunter
Thunder Road
Cape Fear
The Friends Of Eddie Coyle
Mitchum was often wasted by Hughes/RKO -- for some reason during what should have been a great period he kept getting cast in films with stronger female roles (Where Danger Lives, My Forbidden Past, Angel Face). After going independent he didn't always show the best judgment, turning down both The Defiant Ones and the role of Jett Rink in Giant (which was bigger in the original script; it was scaled back after Dean was cast). Rather than the latter he did the routine western The Man With The Gun -- which points up another curiosity of Mitchum's filmography: the lack of really strong westerns.
|
|
|
|
Post by greatstreetwarrior on Jul 16, 2017 11:01:39 GMT
Considering how iconic Mitchum is, he has surprisingly few great roles. For me, these are the Mitchum must-sees: Out Of The Past
Night Of The Hunter
Thunder Road
Cape Fear
The Friends Of Eddie CoyleMitchum was often wasted by Hughes/RKO -- for some reason during what should have been a great period he kept getting cast in films with stronger female roles ( Where Danger Lives, My Forbidden Past, Angel Face). After going independent he didn't always show the best judgment, turning down both The Defiant Ones and the role of Jett Rink in Giant (which was bigger in the original script; it was scaled back after Dean was cast). Rather than the latter he did the routine western The Man With The Gun -- which points up another curiosity of Mitchum's filmography: the lack of really strong westerns. if so why is he considered the greatest working actor from the classics era who is most relevant for modern viewing by both Scorcese and Ebert. They both put him above the likes of Stewart, Fonda etc. I think he was the king of the noir genre and once the genre died in the late 50s he had to diversify. His westerns indeed are poor in comparison and its surprising considering his frame, his childhood and his image as a mans a man; he should have thrived in the genre but never did. |
|
|
|
Post by wmcclain on Jul 16, 2017 12:02:57 GMT
Of the ones you haven't seen, definitely:
Angel Face
Cape Fear
Night of the Hunter
...and others yet to be named.
|
|
|
|
Post by OldAussie on Jul 16, 2017 12:07:20 GMT
5 Card Stud - probably the only western I can think of which would fit in the who-done-it genre. A good cast is the main point of interest.
Villa Rides - not well received but I have a weakness for "Zapata" westerns and have enjoyed this several times.
Longest Day - one of the best all-star cast epic war movies and Mitchum has a bigger role than most of the stars.
Enemy Below - excellent war movie with Mitchum commanding an American destroyer playing cat-and-mouse with a German U-Boat.
Angel Face - very good noir with Jean Simmons playing a very different role than usual.
Man with the Gun - a cheap looking western which has seemingly grown in esteem through the years due to it avoiding the usual clichés of the story.
As for his career in general, he seems to have been very disdainful of acting as a profession and made no secret of doing trash if it paid well. Despite this his reputation as an actor has soared through the years. His low-key, laconic style is still in vogue so unlike actors of a certain era, his performances have aged well.
|
|
|
|
Post by pimpinainteasy on Jul 16, 2017 13:16:53 GMT
apart from the films already mentioned, THE LUSTY MEN is one of my favorite robert mitchum films. THE RIVER OF NO RETURN was also great. he was also great in THE LAST TYCOON in which he acted with DE NIRO.
from IMDB:
even though i love de niro, pacino and nicholson, i agree with mitchum.
|
|
|
|
Post by greatstreetwarrior on Jul 16, 2017 16:45:27 GMT
where can I find River of No Return, Lusty Men and Angel Face. The rest I have found online.
|
|
|
|
Post by petrolino on Jul 16, 2017 22:03:54 GMT
The good, bad and the ugly movies of Mitchum's career. Lets dissect them. Which are the essential must watch films in his ouevre. I like covering actors in a movie marathon. I have just started watching his films from Undercurrent, Locket, Pursued, Crossfire and now finally finished Out of the Past. I loved all of them. Find him way ahead of his time. Need to see GI Joe Story which was the only movie sadly where he was nominated for the Oscars. Could not find Blood on the Moon and Rachel and the Stranger (plz help if smone knows where to find some free online streaming of theirs.) Next I am going to watch The Big Steal. I want to finish all the good movies in his filmography. So plz suggest. Lots of good movies already mentioned. I think Robert Mitchum's career remained strong into old age where he etched some of his finest performances; one of his final movies was Jim Jarmusch' offbeat western 'Dead Man' (1995) which is highly regarded though I'm not a big fan myself. He's fun to watch in the Christmas favourite 'Scrooged' (1988) and appears in an interesting picture from the same year, 'Mr North' (1988). I'd recommend the tense thriller 'Nightkill' (1980) and the low-key drama 'Maria's Lovers' (1984). Seeing as you're enjoying his film noir roles I'll add 'The Racket' (1951) which I don't think has been mentioned, an excellent crime expose with hard-hitting direction from John Cromwell. Hope you enjoy 'The Big Steal'. |
|
|
|
Post by taylorfirst1 on Jul 17, 2017 21:19:03 GMT
One of the all time greats.
|
|
|
|
Post by politicidal on Jul 18, 2017 0:06:32 GMT
The Night of the Hunter (1955) is one of my ten favorite films and definitely features his best performance as the evil reverend Harry Powell. He's a hypocritical preacher, a wife killer, a tormentor of children, and a con artist all rolled into one diabolical character. Other notable films I liked with him include El Dorado, Out of the Past, and White Witch Doctor.
|
|
|
|
Post by twothousandonemark on Jul 18, 2017 2:24:04 GMT
Haven't seen much, yet The Longest Day is my #50 all time & he's its focal figure for me.
|
|
|
|
Post by outrider127 on Jul 18, 2017 20:10:24 GMT
5 Card Stud - probably the only western I can think of which would fit in the who-done-it genre. A good cast is the main point of interest. Villa Rides - not well received but I have a weakness for "Zapata" westerns and have enjoyed this several times. Longest Day - one of the best all-star cast epic war movies and Mitchum has a bigger role than most of the stars. Enemy Below - excellent war movie with Mitchum commanding an American destroyer playing cat-and-mouse with a German U-Boat. Angel Face - very good noir with Jean Simmons playing a very different role than usual. Man with the Gun - a cheap looking western which has seemingly grown in esteem through the years due to it avoiding the usual clichés of the story. As for his career in general, he seems to have been very disdainful of acting as a profession and made no secret of doing trash if it paid well. Despite this his reputation as an actor has soared through the years. His low-key, laconic style is still in vogue so unlike actors of a certain era, his performances have aged well. His "low-key laconic style" was more because of his chronic insomnia,which plagued him his whole life |
|
|
|
Post by greatstreetwarrior on Jul 19, 2017 16:53:30 GMT
I wonder why he never got an Oscar win and he deserved many more noms. From Scorcese, Deniro to Ebert all consider him the greatest of the classical age actors
|
|
|
|
Post by wmcclain on Jul 19, 2017 18:09:27 GMT
The theory is that critics considered him "lazy". People wanted "bigger" acting back then and he was more restrained.
|
|
|
|
Post by telegonus on Jul 21, 2017 8:42:46 GMT
Considering how iconic Mitchum is, he has surprisingly few great roles. For me, these are the Mitchum must-sees: Out Of The Past
Night Of The Hunter
Thunder Road
Cape Fear
The Friends Of Eddie CoyleMitchum was often wasted by Hughes/RKO -- for some reason during what should have been a great period he kept getting cast in films with stronger female roles ( Where Danger Lives, My Forbidden Past, Angel Face). After going independent he didn't always show the best judgment, turning down both The Defiant Ones and the role of Jett Rink in Giant (which was bigger in the original script; it was scaled back after Dean was cast). Rather than the latter he did the routine western The Man With The Gun -- which points up another curiosity of Mitchum's filmography: the lack of really strong westerns. if so why is he considered the greatest working actor from the classics era who is most relevant for modern viewing by both Scorcese and Ebert. They both put him above the likes of Stewart, Fonda etc. I think he was the king of the noir genre and once the genre died in the late 50s he had to diversify. His westerns indeed are poor in comparison and its surprising considering his frame, his childhood and his image as a mans a man; he should have thrived in the genre but never did. Great question, Greatstreetwarrior, and I think that Mitchum's iconic status is a rare case of a star sort of growing in stature as the years go by rather than having a great era, the way most classic era stars had. Mitchum was "rediscovered" in the Sixties, and I think that the rise of the youth culture of the period, plus the far greater posthumous mega-superstardom of a certain Mr. Bogart helped fuel Mitchum's reputation as a WTF anti-establishment guy, this some years before Jack Nicholson hit big. Fact is, Mitchum wasn't quite what the kids who dug him thought he was. A beatnick? Sort of. But a Republican beatnick (true). Mitchum's screen persona was that of a rugged individualist who lives by his own code. He was versatile enough to do other things, didn't limit himself to one type of role, but that was the essence of Mitchum as a star; and it's also what he shared with Bogart. As to Mitchum's being a Noir king, okay; but they didn't call those kinds of movies Noir back in the Forties-Fifties, so basically a more accurate way to state is that Mitchum did well as an offbeat star of crime films. Mitchum's many years with RKO was a blessing and a curse: a blessing because that studio was itself offbeat, made many oddball and artistic films, was in some ways a perfect fit for non-conformist Bob Mitchum. On the other hand, once Howard Hughes bought the place it became a joke. Not overnight but in a few short years. Another interesting Mitchum factoid: he was never truly a top mainstream star. In his heyday he was one of the many go-to guys for the studios and indie producers to, well, go to, when the top names (Holden, Brando, Lancaster, Hudson) turned a project down Mitchum was one of the first of the second tier stars to be sought out; maybe a notch below Richard Widmark, a notch above Jeff Chandler. A good position, for sure, but at the time he didn't seem to have the makings of a screen legend, though he did appear in more offbeat films than most; and Night Of The Hunter and Thunder Road were truly offbeat fare, with the later proving a major hit. |
|
|
|
Post by Richard Kimble on Jul 21, 2017 12:11:34 GMT
Another interesting Mitchum factoid: he was never truly a top mainstream star. In his heyday he was one of the many go-to guys for the studios and indie producers to, well, go to, when the top names (Holden, Brando, Lancaster, Hudson) turned a project down Mitchum was one of the first of the second tier stars to be sought out; maybe a notch below Richard Widmark, a notch above Jeff Chandler. I disagree somewhat. Mitchum was definitely more than a notch above Chandler, who never really rose above the Dale Robertson level. His Universal vehicles were strictly programmers. He got one A lead, as Kim Novak's leading man in Jeanne Eagels. But that was a relatively small male lead, and the film did no one much good anyway. IMHO Mitchum was at least on the level of Widmark, who I never considered a top tier star. IIRC the curious nature of Widmark's stardom was once discussed at the CFB (RIP): that he maintained star status for a quarter century, yet appeared in few notable films, especially once he left Fox. The careers of RM and RW are very similar in some ways: both went independent at the same time, both had few great films afterward. Widmark's post-studio filmography seems somewhat less haphazard than that of Mitchum, who was apparently willing to do anything if he was paid ( The Last Time I Saw Archie?!?). |
|
|
|
Post by teleadm on Jul 21, 2017 15:48:06 GMT
Robert Mitchum must have been one of the coolest persons that ever walked this earth. During one of his last movies made in Norway, Erland Josefsson (Ingmar Bergan movies) asked him how it feels waiting for takes to be made, he answered: The Acting is free, it's the long waits between takes I'm payed for. ![]()  In late 1950's he made a caypso album. :format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7038565-1432276849-7913.jpeg.jpg) In late 1960's he made a Country and Western album in 1972 he sung on British TV talk show Parkinson www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9oQxFg-IwM , picture quality isn't good though. 14 November 1987 , that was the day Robert Mitchum hosted Saturday Night Live ![]()  Intro monolgue is here www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn8t1xEkONA |
|
|
|
Post by telegonus on Jul 21, 2017 20:13:21 GMT
Another interesting Mitchum factoid: he was never truly a top mainstream star. In his heyday he was one of the many go-to guys for the studios and indie producers to, well, go to, when the top names (Holden, Brando, Lancaster, Hudson) turned a project down Mitchum was one of the first of the second tier stars to be sought out; maybe a notch below Richard Widmark, a notch above Jeff Chandler. I disagree somewhat. Mitchum was definitely more than a notch above Chandler, who never really rose above the Dale Robertson level. His Universal vehicles were strictly programmers. He got one A lead, as Kim Novak's leading man in Jeanne Eagels. But that was a relatively small male lead, and the film did no one much good anyway. IMHO Mitchum was at least on the level of Widmark, who I never considered a top tier star. IIRC the curious nature of Widmark's stardom was once discussed at the CFB (RIP): that he maintained star status for a quarter century, yet appeared in few notable films, especially once he left Fox. The careers of RM and RW are very similar in some ways: both went independent at the same time, both had few great films afterward. Widmark's post-studio filmography seems somewhat less haphazard than that of Mitchum, who was apparently willing to do anything if he was paid ( The Last Time I Saw Archie?!?).
I sort of figured you'd weigh in on this one, RK  .
True about Chandler being below Mitchum, though he seemed too successful,--and he was a genuine star--to be in the Dale Robertson or Rory Calhoun category. Those guys were sort of generic action stars, second rank, like younger versions of Forrest Tucker and Rod Cameron. Chandler was more distinctive, had that AA nom for Cochise at the start of the Fifties, always seemed to be hankering for better things, bigger things. Occasionally U-I would toss him a bone but mostly he couldn't break out of his place in the pecking order of things, and he seemed unlikely to at the time of his death.
Back to Mitchum: he was at around the same level as Widmark, I suppose. They both had long, I believe seven year contracts with their respective studios. Widmark was far more fortunate in being at Fox, where he did quite well. I actually like his work for them better than much of what he did later as a freelance. Mitchum did his time at RKO. 'Nuff said. Yet by the time they broke loose, circa 1955, Mitchum seemed to rise somewhat, did the artistically ambitious Night Of The Hunter for Charles Laughton, with some of his subsequent films (Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, The Enemy Below) a bit classier than what he'd been getting from Howard Hughes in the final days at his studio. In his quiet way Mitchum seemed to pull ahead or at least even with Widmark starting around 1960 with Home From The Hill and The Sundowners, leaving aside their box-office. Widmark was helped by having a classier image than Mitchum. By the mid-Sixties it seemed that Widmark was beginning to suffer from the "old star status" that was afflicting many guys of his generation, but not Mitchum, who was morphing, in his own inimitable fashion, into a kind of middle-aged cool dude in a way that, say, a Glenn Ford or a Krk Douglas never could.
|
|
.